Bacus: Crossroads meet in 'complete streets' effort

Deck goes here and here and here and here and hereRebuild Houston initiative seeks to improve quality of urban life by catering more to cyclists and pedestrians

By Tom Bacus,By Tom Bacus

Published 6:01 pm, Wednesday, July 30, 2014

With the recent resignation of Daniel Krueger, the director of Public Works and Engineering, the City of Houston now finds itself at one of the most significant crossroads for urban policy in years.

Houston is in a prime position to redefine its quality of life: The first citywide general plan is underway, the Rebuild Houston initiative is funded, and the mayor is in full support of "complete streets," streets that accommodate not just cars, but also bicycles and pedestrians. The missing link up to this point has been a public works department that shares the same vision.

Houston is a city dominated by infrastructure. So far, Houston's infrastructure has done a great job of catering to the needs of the car commuter. The spatial requirements of the car have become the most important design feature in the majority of Houston's public spaces. This makes for a great parking spot, but an unpleasant human experience on the street.

Car-dominated thinking has not only led to poor urban aesthetics, it also contributes to poor public health, more air pollution, higher summer temperatures because of asphalt, streets that are unfriendly to pedestrian and bikers, and poor use of valuable urban real estate.

Houston is at a critical point in its growth. It is easy to think that building more and wider streets would solve the traffic problem, but no city in the world has solved its long-term traffic problems by increasing the number of streets or by widening lanes. This is especially true when other people-moving options have not been fully explored. Currently, Houston's streets are incomplete: They do not offer safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists, and public transportation options are limited.

Our future streets could shine as examples of how an unfriendly streetscape can be transformed into a public realm that manages storm water, provides room for pedestrians and more successful street retail, offers safe passage for cyclists and boasts smart public transportation while maintaining room for private vehicles. The streets of the future can be active zones where people engage in more than just traffic jams.

In addition to diversifying streetscape for multi-modal transportation, streets can also be designed to better manage stormwater and drainage in ways that address water quality. By looking at stormwater management from a water-quality perspective, the city can incorporate low-impact development systems within streetscapes, parking areas, rooftops and park areas. Bagby Street's drainage is a good example.

This type of green infrastructure can be extended to include both small on-site practices such as rain gardens and green roofs, and also large-scale public infrastructure such as parks and greenways. With Rebuild Houston in place, new drainage infrastructure can address impacts caused by the past decade of development with its additional impervious surface area on storm water, and it would be a missed opportunity if the rebuilt streets weren't as good for people as they are for cars.

In this time of regional growth and expansion, Houston needs a hero. We need someone in the role of Public Works Director who will work tirelessly to seek out creative solutions to our city's toughest infrastructure problems. We need someone who doesn't only model Houston after other sprawling cities with traffic problems, such as Los Angeles or Phoenix, but who looks to cities with innovative operations and maintenance procedures.

Houston's infrastructure has to evolve to meet the diverse needs of this fast-growing city. We have an opportunity to rethink how the city of Houston serves its people.

What quality of urban life do we want? What kind of infrastructure will serve Houston as a progressive, growing city? How can we be an example for others? These are questions we should ask as we seek Houston's next head of public works.